Nyame spent long happy days watching the animals on his Earth, watching the blossoms come out, the grass grow long.

Inside Nyame lived two little spirit people, a man and a woman, and they sometimes crept right to the edge of the sky god's mouth. One day Nyame gave a terrific sneeze. Out fell the spirit people and down, down until they landed on Earth.

They wandered all over it, looking at the plants, and watching the animals playing. soon the man spirit found he could catch the animals with sharp sticks and he became a hunter.

Iyadola, the woman, grew lonely. So she worked out a plan. "We could get some clay and make some little creatures, bake them in the fire and breathe life into them. They could be our children. Then I wouldn't be so lonely."

The next day they made a whole batch of little clay children, putting them into the bright embers so they would cook properly. But Nyame came thundering through the trees, shouting out their names. They were frightened and snatched their children out o f the fire in case he saw what they had been up to.

The minute he was out of sight, they made some more and put them in the fire. But Nyame came crashing back. "What's this great fire for?" he said, poking at it suspiciously.

"We were cold, Nyame" they said, feeling foolish. "Humph" snorted the sky god and away he went.

All day they baked, but Nyame kept coming back. Sometimes they had to whip the babies out before they were ready, sometimes the batch was overcooked. In the end the sky god got hungry and went home for good. When they felt safe, they set out their hand iwork on the forest floor.

Some of the children were hardly cooked and were almost white. Others had been in far too long and were burned black. There were other colours too, yellow and red-brown and pink.

Iyadola was delighted. She swept them up in her arms and breathed warm life into them. Soon they wiggled their little legs and ran about the forest.

After that she no longer complained when the man went hunting. She would never be lonely with her children. And that is why she is called "Iyadola", because it means "Earth Mother".